The Comfort Zone

December 9th, 2020 by Keisha Bhamra.

In early 2020 Healthy London Partnership in collaboration with Arts Council England and the Mayor of London called for proposals from arts and cultural organisations to work with them to help improve the health and wellbeing of people with mental health issues in the borough of Merton. Safe Ground’s response was The Comfort Zone, a therapeutic group work programme designed to support participants towards increased wellbeing through creative reading and writing.

The judging panel included representatives from Merton’s Clinical Commissioning Groups, and from the LENS network.

The judges considered the quality of Safe Ground’s track record in arts and health work, and our specific approach to delivering or supporting cultural social prescribing. After the success of our first programme in June, we’re bringing The Comfort Zone back from 10th August!

If you’re a Merton resident and this programme sounds of interest, please register here.

Comments

Leave a comment

Our story so far...

1993

1993 – 1996

Safe Ground is founded by Antonia Rubinstein and Polly Freeman in 1993, then established as a charity in 1995.

1997 – 1999

Men in prison at HMP Woodhill create a drugs prevention video ‘Ryan’s Choice’ for year 6 school children (1997/98)

‘Parents for the 21^st Century’ collaboration with the prison service begins in 1999. This helps absent fathers, whom are in prison, learn how they can improve their parenting skills for children aged 6 to 12.

2000 – 2003

Film ‘Blinda’ is created by men in prison at HMP Wandsworth – the story concerns Frank, who is serving a 3-year sentence and has cut off all communication with his 8-year-old son Wayne.

‘Blinda’ wins an International Visual Communication Award in 2001.

Family Man launches at HMP Wandsworth in early 2003.

2004 – 2006

Family Man and Fathers Inside are firmly established, raising the profile of parenting and family relationships in prisons.

Safe Ground train Prison Officers at HMP Wandsworth to deliver Family Man.

2007 – 2009

The revised Family Man programme has been successfully trialled in 6 establishments.

Safe Ground are shortlisted for The Centre for Social Justice Awards.

2010

Safe Ground train members of the Belgian Prison Service in using the arts to engage hard to reach learners

Creating Community Archives project begins at HMYOI Deerbolt, using archive materials to engage young men in prison in a dialogue with World War 2 veterans

Common Ground project begins, aiming to engage school children, older adults and people in prison in a creative dialogue

2011 – 2012

Transitions project takes place at HMP Wandsworth in October 2012

The project was a creative outlet, which produced short stories and film scripts, as well as film ‘The View’

2013 – 2014

Safe Ground on the Run raises £20,000!

New programmes in development include Man Up and Officers’ Mess

GROUNDation, Safe Ground’s first ever spoken word and poetry evening takes place at the LOST Theatre, Wandsworth

Safe Ground creates programme ‘The Cay’ and delivers rehabilitative culture training to the staff at HMP Balsam Ghut in the British Virgin Islands

A Justice Data Lab analysis finds that the one year proven reoffending rate for participants on the Family Man programme was 32%, compared to 39% for a matched control group of similar offenders

2015

GROUNDation Poetry project wins a Gold award at the Koestler Awards in September 2015

Women’s programme ‘Our Own Stories’, a creative personal development programme for women, is piloted at HMP Styal, HMP East Sutton Park, HMP Askham Grange and HMP Low Newton

2016

Safe Ground turns 21! An Open House event is held for the public to learn more about the organisation’s history

‘MOVING. HOME.’ Symposium is held at the National Theatre, exploring the meaning of ‘home’ with a range of panellists, including Safe Ground alumni and Baroness Helena Kennedy QC

A Justice Data Lab analysis finds that Fathers Inside participants are 40% less likely to re-offend than their counterparts.

2017

Safe Ground win the Longford Prize for contribution to penal reform

Officers’ Mess is delivered at HMP Berwyn, with 86% of participants agreeing that the course made them think about how they respond in different situations

2018

The Who Am I? programme in partnership with Ormiston Families’ Transforming Rehabilitation is rolled out in probation sites across the East of England.

Our Symposium ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ is held at the Roundhouse. We invite guests to discuss issues of punishment, prison, exclusion and harm. There are five performers, all with lived experience of the criminal justice system.

2019

Screening of the award-winning documentary, ‘Tre Maison Dasan’ at The Roundhouse, depicting the experiences of children with incarcerated parents.

Safe Ground discusses ‘The F* Word’ (*feelings) and the danger it poses when in a segregation unit in a Category A prison.

Future

Get Involved with Safe Ground

We'd love to hear from you and answer any questions you may have. Send us an email,
make your specialist training requests, stay in touch, check out our YouTube channel
and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.